


Nowhere to Run

by Spunky0ne



Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-19 23:02:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4764269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spunky0ne/pseuds/Spunky0ne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the quincy war, Ichigo and Uryu are abducted by the remains of the quincy army. Imprisoned in the shadows, they struggle to find a way out as Byakuya fights to reach them, under orders that he must retrieve or kill them. Ichigo/Uryu, Bazz-B/Haschwalth, Grimmjow/Tetsuya, Renji/Byakuya...mpregs</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lost

Ichigo woke to an onslaught of horrid, stinging pains that seemed to radiate all over his slashed and burned body. He was sure that if he could have opened his eyes, he would only have found his skin nearly shredded away, and what was left must be burnt to a crisp. His head and back ached so fiercely he could feel tears leaking from his closed eyes and his heart still pounded from the adrenaline that had been surging through him all through the long battle.

_Did we win?_

He remembered then, seeing a flash of radiant light where Uryu had appeared suddenly as he and Ywach had prepared to clash for the last time. He hadn't looked as the sea of arrows took flight. He knew well that all that mattered was reaching Ywach. If Uryu's arrows flew at the quincy king, they would only help him in his efforts, and if they flew at him, they would make sure he didn't live to regret having failed Soul Society and all the friends whose lives depended on him winning.

_I have to win..._

_I have to win..._

_I have to..._

_What happened when our powers collided?_

Slowly, his awareness faded and he was unhearing as footsteps approached and several figures draped in white reached the place where he laid. Their faces were carefully masked and they immediately set powerful barriers to hold back the remaining shinigamis rushing to reach the ones in the palace. They took their time then, searching the rubble thoroughly.

"I have found Kurosaki Ichigo!" one of the searchers shouted.

Several more joined the one who had called out, and they dug the injured man's damaged body out of the rubble, then loaded him onto a stretcher. The group looked up as a heavy barrage of kido blasts struck the barrier, but as soon as they were sure it would hold, they turned their attention back to the search.

"Over here!" called another searcher.

The searchers not assigned to bearing Ichigo's stretcher hurried over to him. Their hands dug into the debris, pushing and shoving bits aside and hewing out the area around a second trapped body.

"Commander Haschwalth!" one of the men gasped as the ragged lengths of blonde hair became visible, "His life signs are barely readable. Take him back into the shadows immediately and place him on life support!"

The group found only a few traces of Ywach's ruined body, but dutifully collected them and bound them into a sealed mahogany box. They made a final survey of the room and were about to leave, when near the leader of the group, a muffled groan sounded, somewhere underneath a fallen white pillar.

"Quickly!" the leader hissed, focusing his power on the downed column and firing a blast of carefully aimed reiatsu.

The pillar shimmered fitfully, then flashed with bright light and dissolved, leaving a shower of dust that rained down on the huddled form that had been trapped beneath it. The injured quincy they found surged to his feet, limping badly as he backed away from them.

"Don't come near me!" he warned them, "I'll...!"

"Ishida Uryu," the leader of the rescue group said sternly, "You have been badly injured. You need to come with us for healing. Whatever your loyalties, I think you should give up before you are damaged beyond our ability to heal."

The quincies flinched and stared as another huge blast struck their protective barrier.

"If you think you will receive mercy from the shinigamis, Ishida Uryu, think again! They might forgive Kurosaki Ichigo for his quincy blood, but you were witnessed firing at the others. They will kill you on sight."

The rescue group moved forward and Uryu stepped back, gasping in dismay as his bow flickered and began to fade. The quincies closed in on him as yet another blast struck the barrier. Uryu's chest heaved and sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Get back!" he warned them, "Don't touch me!"

Another blast struck the barrier, making a loud cracking noise as it started to break apart.

"Uryu!"

Uryu took a stinging breath, his eyes rounding as he spotted the approaching shinigamis through the crack in the barrier. They drew back to strike a final time, and this time the barrier fell.

"GO!" cried the leader of the rescue group, "I'll bring him!"

Time seemed to slow as Uryu tried to race past the quincy that was closing in on him, heading for the staircase beyond him. The man grabbed him around the waist, subduing him with a shock of malevolent reiatsu as the first of the shinigamis entered the room.

"Well, lookie what we have here!" shouted Zaraki Kenpachi, "A barrel of quincies! Don't get in my way, I'm bringin'em down!"

"They're opening the way into the shadows!" Byakuya warned his comrades, "Don't let them get inside."

The group of shinigamis charged as the quincy rescue force retreated, leaving behind three masked officers to face the onslaught. Blinding light erupted all around the destroyed chamber as the three quincies, four shinigamis and a blue haired Espada loosed their power on each other. The power exploded forcefully, throwing bodies in all directions. In the frightening chaos, Quincies, shinigamis and Espada crashed wildly into debris, into walls, and in some cases, into each other.

The quincy holding Uryu lost his grip as he fell, then screamed as Kenpachi's blade sliced him almost in half. A second quincy dragged himself to Uryu's collapsed body and dragged him towards where the others were disappearing into the shadows.

"Close the way! They're coming!" another quincy shouted.

"No, wait for me! I have Ishida!" cried the one holding onto Uryu.

He scrambled forward, pursued by a badly limping Grimmjow and Renji's skeletal snake. He barely made it into the opening behind the others, as the shinigami team reached them and fired a final furious volley of blistering attacks.

The chamber shook forcefully and power roared around the combatants. Noise and vibration disoriented all of them for a moment, then they heard an odd screeching sound, then a rending hiss. The light of the chamber and their clashing power seemed to be sucked away, and the combatants fell into the dark abyss that seemed to swallow them. All sound died away as they were hurtled through the blackness and into the shadows. One by one they crashed down, haphazardly throughout the area. The impacts jarred the region, shaking several buildings off their foundations and damaging others as hurtling bodies and rubble slammed into them. As the hard impacts ended, silence and cold returned to the shadow demesnes.

XXXXXXXXXX

Deep within the shadows ruled by the quincies, a white clad officer with cruel green eyes glared down at the bound and blindfolded shinigami stretched out on the table in front of him and extended his hands, gathering reiatsu and preparing to strike.

"Kuchiki Tetsuya," he said sternly to his captive, "I am Officer Arnell of the Sternritters. We know who you are, and that you were guarding the escape route for the Kuchiki women and children when you were captured. You know the coordinates of the evacuation compound. I want those coordinates now."

Tetsuya stiffened and said nothing, steeling himself for the punishment he knew would follow the demand. He screamed in agony as the officer struck him with a heavy shock of reiatsu. The quincy intensified the reiatsu, making Tetsuya cry out louder, but earning no actual words. He left off, giving the reeling shinigami time both to catch his breath and to reconsider his lack of cooperation.

"Resistance is useless, Tetsuya," Arnell said coldly, "We will find them anyway. You needn't die just being stubborn. Give us the coordinates and we will return you to your cell and bargain with the shinigamis for your release. You are only going to die if you continue to resist."

Tetsuya panted harshly, still trying to regain his breath. Arnell waited a few moments, then shocked Tetsuya's restrained form again, tearing another agonized howl from deep in his chest.

"This is pointless," Arnell scolded him, "You will accomplish nothing but a needless and very painful death by resisting. Give in and give us the coordinates, before it is too late!"

He jolted Tetsuya's tasked body with reiatsu, watching him writhe and cry out. He didn't ask again, but followed that attack with another, then another. He readied himself to continue, but paused as a roaring seemed to fill the air around him and then several hard impacts rocked the area.

As the last impact sounded, the wall of the chamber broke apart, sending debris crashing into the table Tetsuya laid on and sending toppling over onto the surprised quincy. Rock rained down and Arnell screamed as it began to bury him. Torn free of the table, Tetsuya lurched to his feet, escaping the dying quincy's grasping hands. He staggered into the ruined passageway and squeezed through a section of broken wall, tumbling out into the darkness and stumbling among the buildings, seeking a place to hide.

_I don't know how to get out of the shadows they brought me into. I have to conceal myself and then attempt to learn how they travel in and out of the shadows._

He pressed up against the side of one of the buildings as a group of soldats ran by, then ducked down and worked at the reiatsu suppressing bands his captors had placed on his wrists. Unable to remove them, he instead moved on, using the darkness for cover as he searched for refuge. He came upon a heavily damaged building and spotted a huddled, blue haired figure, half buried in the rubble. Moving forward cautiously, he studied the unconscious being, quickly realizing, first, that the man was a hollow, and secondly, that he knew that hollow.

_Word came from Urahara-san about several Espadas and humans who were our allies in the war...a small female named Neliel and a blue haired hollow named Grimmjow._

He studied the hollow for a moment longer, then concluded that he couldn't be completely sure. But as the man was unconscious and enemies were moving closer, he dragged the hollow into a dark corner and used the very small amount of healing power he could manage with his bonds still suppressing his reiatsu to bring the hollow awake.

Tetsuya shivered as the hollow growled and quivered, then opened his eyes and fixed them on him.

"Who are you?" the hollow demanded, "You're a shinigami. How did you get in here?"

"I was taken in the conflict and imprisoned here," Tetsuya explained, "I am Kuchiki Tetsuya."

"Jaegerjaques Grimmjow," the hollow introduced himself, crouching next to Tetsuya and looking out at where a group of quincy guards was searching the rubble Tetsuya had rescued him from, "Thanks for getting me out of there."

"Don't thank me yet," Tetsuya said softly, "We still have to figure out how to escape these shadows."

"I already know," Grimmjow said shortly, "We have to follow one of them when they open the way and go through. We can't open the way because only quincies or one of those crazy scientists can do that. But we have a bigger problem."

"What is that?" Tetsuya asked.

"Just before I crashed down out there, I saw those bastards take Kurosaki and that Ishida boy," Grimmjow informed him, "We can't let them keep those two. There's a rumor that the quincies could use them to bring Ywach back!"

"Very well, I will help you," Tetsuya offered, "Just remove the bonds on my wrists so that I can use my powers. I can conceal us from their eyes."

Grimmjow struck the bands with his reiatsu, shattering them and setting Tetsuya's restrained powers free.

"Thank you," Tetsuya said gratefully.

"Don't thank me yet," Grimmjow chuckled, "We still have to find those two and find a way to escape. Do you know where they might take a couple of important prisoners?"

"I think so," Tetsuya answered, "They held me in a special set of cells because I have knowledge they wanted."

"Oh? What kind of knowledge?"

Tetsuya gazed at him warily and gave no answer.

"All right, keep your secrets. I was just asking," the hollow chided him, "Which way?"

Tetsuya nodded and pointed back in the direction he had come.

"We need to go that way. But be careful," Tetsuya warned him, "There were several devastating impacts earlier."

"Eh, that was me and a bunch of allies and enemies getting thrown all over after assaulting the palace."

"You reached the palace?" Tetsuya asked urgently, "Did you see Byakuya-sama?"

"Kuchiki Byakuya?" Grimmjow asked, "Yeah, he was there. So were Kuchiki Rukia, Abarai Renji and a few others. But we got thrown all over the shadows here, so it's anyone's guess where they ended up. They might have come down in the wreckage at the palace, or they might have been sucked in here like I was."

"But if they're here, I must find them!" Tetsuya said, looking around.

"Take it easy. Don't go off half-cocked," Grimmjow warned him, "This place is going to be crawling with guards for a while. Let's get out of sight and wait for the excitement to die down."

"I think you're right," Tetsuya admitted regretfully.

"Come on!" Grimmjow snapped, pulling him forward.

"Wait," Tetsuya said urgently, "Let me make it harder for them to see us."

He summoned a blue steel blade to his hand, then whispered a command that left Grimmjow staring appreciatively as their bodies seemed to lose their color and fade into the darkness.

"This is a waterform that I use for stealth," Tetsuya explained, "Try not to step into direct light or you can be seen. If the form is hit once, it will just shatter, but if you are hit twice before it can break, you will be injured."

"Sounds like a perfect power for getting us in where we need to go," Grimmjow said approvingly, "But we need to move now. Those guys have reiatsu lights and will be searching every nook and cranny. We need to get clear of here. Lead the way."

Tetsuya nodded and stepped forward, angling away from the approaching guards and slipping back through the broken wall he had used as an escape route. The two took refuge in an unoccupied holding cell.

"This is just the area of their prison that they use for interrogations and torture," Tetsuya whispered.

"I won't ask how you learned that," Grimmjow said, sounding oddly sympathetic as he observed the heavy bruising on Tetsuya's comely face and partally exposed shoulder.

"You don't want to know," Tetsuya agreed ruefully, "There is a set of guards at the entrance. We must subdue them and steal the keys to get to the next level underneath this one. That is where they keep the most valuable prisoners. Ichigo-san and Ishida-san may have been taken there."

"There's someone else who might be there too," Grimmjow said softly, "If she is, we need to free her also."

"Who is that?" Tetsuya asked.

"Harribel Tier, the governor of Hueco Mundo."

"The Third Espada?" Tetsuya mused, "She is a comrade of yours? A friend?"

"Well, kinda," Grimmjow said, giving Tetsuya a feisty grin, "but it's not so much friendship that makes me want to find her and get her out."

"Oh?" Tetsuya inquired, "Then...?"

"See, it's like this. After her, I'm the next most powerful Espada left alive, except for Neliel, who doesn't want at all to lead. I don't want to be in charge of things either. So the only out Nel and I have is to return Tier to power."

"Oh," Tetsuya said, looking amused, "by all means then, we'll find her."

"Good," said Grimmjow, "Let's go!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Byakuya sat quietly, resting with his back against a surviving section of the palace wall, while Hanatarou knelt in front of him, extending his hands and slowly erasing the damage to the sixth division taichou. A few yards away, Isane knelt beside the unconscious Zaraki Kenpachi near where Shunsui stood with the recovering zero squad.

"We will take care of restoring the palace and seating the new king," Ichibei said, looking around at the damage and frowning, "We will fortify the area against invasion, but it will fall to the Gotei 13 to find a way into the shadows to recover or kill Kurosaki Ichigo and Ishida Uryu."

"Did you say recover or kill?" Shunsui asked unhappily.

"Regretfully, yes," Ichibei answered, "As much as they were the ones who stopped Ywach, they are also the ones the enemy can use to revive their dead king. I don't know the exact method, but I do know it exists, and that will be their first and most important move upon returning to the shadows. You must prevent them from reviving Ywach at all costs...even if that means killing those young men."

"Well," Shunsui said, reaching up and scratching the back of his neck, "Most of my strongest officers are injured or incapacitated..."

Byakuya looked down at his left hand, turning it over and opening it to reveal a broken shard of Abarai Renji's skeletal snake.

"I will go," he said solemnly, making the others' heads turn to look at him, "I will lead the mission into the shadows."

"Do you think you will be able to find a way in, now that their gate closed?" Shunsui asked, looking doubtful.

"I will find a way," Byakuya promised, closing his hand around the bit of Renji's bankai again, "no matter what it takes."


	2. Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byakuya engages Bazz-B in a plan to enter the shadows on a mission to recover or kill Ichigo and Uryu. Elsewhere, Tetsuya escapes quincy tormentors and assists Grimmjow in searching for the Espada governer, Harribel Tier.

Ichigo felt his senses returning slowly and struggled to open his eyes.

_My body feels so heavy._

_Where am I?_

He managed to crack his eyelids open enough to tell he was in a hospital room, and that the lights in the room had been dimmed. A groan escaped his lips as he turned his head slightly and registered a second bed, where another young man laid. The young man's body was wrapped in a mountain of bandages and he didn't move, but his eyes were open and turned in Ichigo's direction.

"Uryu?" Ichigo whispered uncertainly.

"Be quiet!" Uryu mouthed back, "They are just outside the door."

"Who?" Ichigo breathed more softly, "Who is out there? Where are we?"

Uryu licked his dry, parched lips.

"In the shadows."

Ichigo considered the words, then nodded slightly in acknowledgement.

"Do you know what they want?" he asked.

"They don't seem to want to hurt us. They did heal us," Uryu mused, "But you can see they've bound us. We can't draw in reiatsu, and we can't use it like we usually do."

Ichigo caught his breath in dismay as he looked down at his hands and found they were, as his friend had said, bound securely to the bed rails. He closed his eyes and used his inward senses, paling as he found that he couldn't seem to connect with his powers or speak to his zanpakutou.

"You're right," he whispered, "I can't use my powers."

"I don't know what we can do as long as they have us tied up and our powers sealed," Uryu reasoned, "I guess we have to wait and see what happens when they come back."

"Like hell I'm gonna lie here and wait," Ichigo fumed, working his hands against the restraints.

"Ichigo! Ichigo, stop!" Uryu hissed, "You're just going to draw their attention to you and..."

"Great, I'll get them in here and we can get to the bottom of this!" Ichigo said more loudly, "HEY!"

"Ichigo, don't!" Uryu objected, struggling against his own bonds, "Ichigo!"

"HEY, DON'T JUST LEAVE US LYING IN HERE! GET IN HERE AND TELL US WHAT YOU WANT, YOU BASTARDS!"

"Ichigo!"

Uryu paled as footsteps sounded outside the room, and he swiftly closed his eyes and made his body go limp.

A moment later, a tall, stern looking old man entered the room and moved to Ichigo's bedside.

"You are being too loud," he said, scowling, "I gave you a pain block. You shouldn't be in pain, but it will come back more quickly if you move around too much."

"You want to know who's going to be in pain, you just keep avoiding my questions," Ichigo snapped fiercely, "Who are you and why are you keeping Uryu and me here?"

The man glared at him disapprovingly.

"I am Terrell," he answered, "I am a healer assigned to your care, Kurosaki Ichigo. Our forces found you and Ishida Uryu and we brought you here to heal you."

"Yeah? If you just brought us here to heal us, then you wouldn't need to tie us up, would you?"

"You will need to stay calm, Kurosaki Ichigo, or I will have to sedate you."

"Shut up, Ichigo," Uryu muttered to himself, "Just stop talking now."

"Look, I want to see whoever is in charge here!" Ichigo demanded, making Uryu roll his eyes beneath his eyelids, "You tell whoever's in charge that I...!"

He broke off as Terrell added medication from a small syringe to his IV.

"Hey!"

Uryu sighed disapprovingly as Ichigo quivered, then closed his eyes and went still and quiet.

_Baka! How do we plan anything if you get yourself knocked out?_

He groaned and feigned an unintelligible blunder of words as the healer left Ichigo unconscious and moved to examine him.

"Rest easy, Ishida-sama," the healer said soothingly, "Your wounds are healing well. You will soon be feeling better."

The healer looked up as a pale woman with grey hair pulled into a tight bun and stolid grey eyes entered the room.

"Terrell, Haschwalth-sama needs you. The stitches on his side have opened, and he is bleeding."

"All right, I'm coming," the healer said bracingly, turning and injecting Uryu's IV with something that made his head swim ominously.

 _They sure aren't leaving us any openings are they_? he thought grimly as the air around him darkened and slowly went black.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Kuchiki taichou," Isane said, looking surprised as the sixth divsion leader entered the infirmary, "Are you all right? Your injuries aren't bothering you, are they?"

"No," Byakuya said, "I am here to question the quincy who we found injured...Bazz-B, I believe is his name."

"Ah, yes," said Isane, picking up a file and reading, "The quincy, Bazzard Black. We have him confined in the back. I will take you to him."

She led Byakuya into a long corridor where guards had been posted at several doors near the end.

"We actually found the other two quincies we brought with us to the palace," Isane reported, "but they are unconscious and in very guarded condition. They appear to have been cut down by Ywach, himself."

"I see."

"Bazz-B, as he likes to be called, has been awake, and has been fairly cooperative. He seems relieved that the quincy king was killed, but of course, he is worried about what we shinigamis will do to him in the aftermath. I tried to be reassuring, but I think we all know that Central 46 will be harsh with any quincies who are brought before them."

"Yes, I am afraid that is true," Byakuya agreed solemnly, "But I will speak with him privately. Perhaps if he can assist with the mission I was given, it could sway the council in his favor when he stands trial."

"Maybe," Isane said hopefully, "Go on in, sir."

Byakuya left Isane gazing solemnly after him. He nodded to the guards, who stood out of the way, allowing him to pass. As he opened the door, he spotted the red-haired quincy sitting up in his bed and glaring silently out the window.

"Who are you?" he asked gruffly, "You come to arrest me, now that I'm awake?"

"I am not here to arrest you," Byakuya said, meeting Bazz-B's challenging, green eyes, "I am Kuchiki Byakuya, taichou of the sixth division."

"I know who you are," the quincy snapped.

"I am here to seek your assistance on a matter that has been placed in my hands."

"And why should I help you?" Bazz-B asked, scowling, "I told you guys when we were coming up here that we weren't making friends, we just shared an interest in coming here, so we were willing to work with you. I've got no reason to give a shit about you or your mission."

"That may be true," Byakuya said calmly, "however, if you hear me out, you may find that our interests will, once again, coincide."

"Yeah?" Bazz-B sighed, looking unconvinced, "How?"

"You have not yet been taken into custody by the second division, but you will be shortly. And once you are taken to Central 46, my access to you will be severely limited. I would like to avoid you going there as much as you would like to avoid it."

"Why?" Bazz-B demanded, "What's in it for you?"

"You are acquainted with my fukutaichou, Abarai Renji, are you not?"

"Huh," the quincy huffed, kicking absently at the post at the foot of the bed, "You mean the guy with the cool eyebrows and the big, fat mouth? Yeah, I know him. So what?"

"There was a confrontation in the throne room after Ywach was killed. Our forces arrived to find a quincy removal team evacuating Kurosaki Ichigo and Ishida Uryu, as well as the quincy commander, Haschwalth."

"Yeah? So? In case you didn't know, I wasn't friends with Ishida. I didn't trust him at all. I don't know Kurosaki and if you weren't aware, Ywach's pet, Haschwalth, was the one who cut off my arm and almost cut me in two! They can have those three, for all I care!"

Byakuya considered his words for a moment.

"I understand. It was infuriating, being deemed unworthy, being drained of your power and abandoned by your king."

"That bastard was never my king," Bazz-B scoffed, "I wanted him to die. I wanted to be the one to kill him. But what does all this have to do with Abarai Renji anyway?"

"Renji was part of the team that entered the throne room with me. We battle briefly with the quincies, but they attempted to escape into the shadows. As our forces clashed, there was a huge explosion. Some of us were thrown down within or around the throne room, but Renji, as well as the former Sexta Espada, Jaegerjaques Grimmjow, were nowhere to be found afterward. We later surmised that they must have been pulled into the shadows in the wake of the escaping quincies."

Bazz-B sniffed off-handedly.

"Some poor luck, huh."

"Yes. Now, as much as I would like to know what has happened to my fukutaichou, he is not the focus of the mission I have been given. Yet, if I embark upon this mission, it should give me the opportunity to learn Renji's fate. As he is a valuable warrior, a comrade and a friend, I feel I owe him this."

"Hmm, and how does your new captain commander feel about that? Or have you told him about your little private mission?"

"As long as I complete the mission I was given successfully, Kyouraku Soutaichou will not question my methods."

"And that mission is?"

Byakuya paused and sat down in the chair beside the hospital bed.

"My mission is to find a way to enter the shadows," he explained, "I must infiltrate the quincy kingdom and locate Kurosaki Ichigo and Ishida Uryu, whom the quincies plan to use somehow to revive the fallen king."

"Sounds like fun," Bazz-B sneered softly, "When do we leave?"

Byakuya shook his head firmly.

"I do not require you to go on the mission with me. If you provide the information I need, I can testify before the tribunal that you were instrumental in preventing the revival of Ywach. As leader of the..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Bazz-B huffed, waving off the words, "Leader of the Kuchiki clan. You've got some pull. You'll get me a lighter sentence. And you think that's a good deal? No way. I'm not doing shit for you unless it includes me going free when we're finished with the mission. That's not negotiable."

"I see," Byakuya said, frowning, "Well, I cannot promise you freedom that Central 46 does not grant. We need to find a middle ground."

"A middle ground," Bazz-B repeated, running his fingers through the ends of his red mohawk, "Well, let's see. How about this? You tell your soutaichou that you'll need me to get in and out of the shadows."

"Is that the truth?" Byakuya asked.

"Actually, yeah," Bazz-B confirmed, "We have our way of getting into the shadows that we aren't about to share with you guys. If we did, it would leave what's left of our people vulnerable to attack. So, I won't tell you how it works, but I can get you in, and once you're in, I can also get you into Sibern."

"Silbern," Byakuya repeated thoughtfully, "That was what your king called it before he recreated it in the royal realm and renamed it Wahrwelt."

"You know a little of our history."

Byakuya gave him an appraising look.

"It is the duty of my family, as required by the king, to inscribe the history of Soul Society into our family diaries, as well as to collect and preserve important documents and artifacts. And while not a great deal was known to us about quincy society, it was recorded by an ancestor of mine that there were noble families among the quincies."

"Yeah, we have our nobles too," Bazz-B sighed disinterestedly, "I happen to be from a noble family, not that it means shit anymore, because a while back while Ywach was marching all over our world and killing our own people right and left, he also killed my family. He wanted control and he took it, and he killed anyone who even breathed a wrong word in his direction. Then, when there wasn't anyone to stand in his way, he looked for the strongest survivors and he made the Sternritter army. The ones with power he thought he could use, he granted additional power to. When he had the power he needed, he invaded Soul Society."

"And you say that after Ywach killed your family, you decide to...?"

"I trained and joined the Sternritters. It was our plan...it was my plan to get close to Ywach and to kill him."

Byakuya frowned, studying Bazz-B's angry expression closely.

"You said our plan," he pointed out, "Who joined you in your plan?"

"Doesn't matter," Bazz-B said darkly, "He got taken in by Ywach and became his little sycophant. He was the first to kneel in front of the bastard and to kiss his goddamned feet!"

A look of realization rose on Byakuya's face.

"The quincy commander Haschwalth?" he asked warily.

Bazz-B's fists clenched and his lips curled and trembled in fury.

"Uh-huh, that's what he turned into once Ywach got hold of him...but before that, he was my friend. Before that, I just called him Jugo."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ugh!" Renji grunted, wincing at the pain that radiated throughout his body.

He tried to move his hand, but it seemed heavier than it should have been, and he heard a clanking sound indicating that heavy, kido reinforced chains had been placed on him. He laid on a hard surface that only made his beat up body ache more. Forcing his heavy eyelids open yielded the information that he had been fastidiously secured to something he thought might have been meant to be a bed, but felt more like a table. He moved his head to look around and discovered that he laid in a cell with strong iron bars.

A moment later, he realized that he wasn't alone.

"Are you awake now, shinigami?" said a feminine voice, issuing from the cell across from his.

"Y-yeah, I'm awake," Renji answered in a thick, pained voice, "Y-you look familiar."

"Do I?" asked the woman, who had been chained with her slender hands over her head, "I don't know you. But you are, perhaps, an officer?"

"Uh huh," Renji agreed, "Abarai Renji, fukutaichou of the sixth division, "And you are?"

"Harribel Tier, Tres Espada and governer of Hueco Mundo."

"Espada," Renji mused, "That's right. Ywach was using Arrancars in his army."

"The quincy king sent his men to Hueco Mundo and killed the greater number of powerful hollows there, but some he enslaved and convinced to fight for him. Although he treated them like refuse. He granted them powers, but instead of the glory he offered, most of the Arrancars who fought for him only encountered a cruel death...some by his own hand."

"Yeah, he wasn't the nicest guy," Renji sighed, pulling slightly at the chains that held him, testing the strength and positioning on his wrists and ankles, "But you'll be glad to know he's dead."

"For the moment," Tier agreed, turning her stern, aqua colored eyes on him, "However, don't be too quick to celebrate because I have overheard talk of a plan to revive him."

"Revive him! Can they do that?" Renji asked worriedly, "We just pulled out all the stops to beat him. You mean to say that, just like that, they can revive him?"

"I'm not sure what they will do," Tier went on, "I only heard bits and pieces. But one thing is certain. We can't let him be reborn. If he is, he won't repeat the mistakes that led to his downfall. Whatever we have to do, we must do to stop him."

"Right," Renji sighed, pulling at his chains, "Well, then I hope you have a plan for getting out of here, because there's no fucking way I'm gonna break these stupid chains. They're..."

Renji paused as he heard a soft exclamation, then a grunt and the sound of a body hitting the floor. Running footsteps approached the cells, but squinting, Renji and Tier could only see a shadowy outline of two men. Renji caught his breath in surprise as the forms thickened, then solidified into living, breathing people.

"Tetsuya, am I ever glad to see you!" he exclaimed softly.

He grinned as Tetsuya sent a flash of icy mist that wrapped around his bonds and Tier's, then thickened and caused a cracking sound as the kido shattered and the heavy bonds failed. Tetsuya and Grimmjow quickly opened the cells and Tetsuya helped Renji to his feet, while Grimmjow wrapped a supportive arm around Tier, giving her a wry grin.

"You all right miss governor?" he joked, "They beat you up a little, huh?"

"I am fine," Tier said stiffly, wriggling out of Grimmjow's hands, "Let's get out of here!"

Tetsuya nodded and invoked his power again, making the color fade from their bodies. He and Grimmjow led them out of the cellblock and upward into the palace.


	3. In Noblest Terms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byakuya frees Bazz-B to use him as a guide to enter the shadows.

Bazz-B heard the lock on his chamber door click, and looked up as the door opened and Kuchiki Byakuya entered the room.

"Back again, huh?" he mused, shaking his head, "You must really love your fukutaichou to keep coming to talk to the likes of me."

"I didn't come to talk," Byakuya said, leaning over the quincy and slipping a silver band onto his wrist.

"What is that? What're you doing?" Bazz-B demanded, shifting to study the device.

"That is a special limiter, designed by Urahara Kisuke to effectively deny you the ability to gather reiatsu as you usually do. I need to get you out of here now, but I don't want to go to the effort to simply have you disappear into the shadows and escape without giving me what I want in return for helping you."

"You're fuckin' with me. You're not helping me."

Byakuya let out a dismissive breath and shattered the bindings that held the quincy down.

"That device also connects your reiatsu and mine. If you become separated from me, I can use it to force you to return to me."

Bazz-B gave him a sly grin.

"And you're doing all of this because...?"

"As you observed," Byakuya said solemnly, his dark eyes glaring down into Bazz-B's, "I love my fukutaichou. He is in the shadows, and he may be their prisoner. I don't intend to leave him there."

"So that stuff about Ichigo and the Ishida boy, that's not important to you at all?"

"Ichigo is my friend," Byakuya replied quietly, "I owe him a debt of gratitude. I will find a way to assist him."

"And Ishida?"

Byakuya went silent for a moment.

"That depends on his actions when I find them. He fired on our forces. He must be considered an enemy until something happens to prove he is not."

Bazz-B huffed out a sarcastic breath.

"I guess that's the right attitude to have when you're dealing with Ywach's men."

Byakuya gave him a questioning look.

"You see, what you shinigamis don't seem to understand is that Ywach isn't like the rest of us. While we gather reiatsu from around us and use it to release our power, he doesn't work that way."

"Yes," Byakuya agreed, "our intelligence indicates that he spread some kind of malevolent reiatsu all about Soul Society when he invaded, and that everyone who fought in the war was touched and somehow affected by that reiatsu. By some method, he was able to recapture that reiatsu when one affected by it died, and it added to his power in some way. We don't understand yet what this all means, but perhaps you can fill me in as we travel to Silbern."

A slow smile spread across Bazz-B's face.

"Then, you're taking me with you?" he asked.

"Yes."

"And how did you swing that, since I know your Central 46 wouldn't ever let me out of their sight? They want a way into our world to finish us off. Not that I blame them. We did kill a lot of them, although they also killed a lot of us in the war a thousand years ago. What did you do to convince them?"

"I didn't have to convince them," Byakuya said simply, "I simply filed a report detailing three reasons why I was taking you with me, and I have twelve hours to submit the report."

"Ah, crafty," Bazz-B said, looking impressed, "You gave us a head start. But what reasons could you possibly give for taking off with me?"

"First, I pointed out that although you are not a shinigami, you are of a respected quincy noble house."

"What?"

"You told me you were from a noble family," Byakuya explained, "and even though our societies were at war, there are special rules about the incarceration of noble enemies. I pointed out that, as a noble leader, I was entitled to interrogate you as to important military tactics. This is a military mission. I am taking you as my guide."

"And why would you be dumb enough to do that when I'm an enemy and I could just lead you into a trap?"

"How do you know that I am not going to kill you, rather than let you get away?" Byakuya asked pointedly, "We must take our chances, but carefully, judging by what we learn about each other. Make no mistake, I do not plan to let you kill me."

"I've got no reason to kill you," Bazz-B sighed, "We've been defeated. If we're all not slaughtered at some point after this, we'll be damned lucky."

"Secondly," Byakuya went on, "as you are noble, and I am a house leader, I can place you under my protection, so I stated in my report that even while seeing to this mission, I am required to protect you."

"I don't know if that will slow them down for a second..."

"It won't, really, but it adds to my argument," Byakuya noted, "And finally, it is permissible to take and employ an item necessary for the completion of a divine mission."

"Come again? What does that mean?" Bazz-B asked, frowning, "An item?"

"You are a key into the shadows," Byakuya pointed out, "I cannot complete my mission without using you to enter the shadows. You said you can take me in."

"I see," chuckled the quincy, sitting up straighter and rubbing his wrists for a moment.

"Good, then we must leave now," Byakuya insisted, "Come. And on the way, I want you to explain your king's power to me. I know what I told you is only a bare bones understanding, and there is much more to him."

"Yeah," Bazz-B confirmed, watching curiously as Byakuya looked out the barred window and locked eyes with a tall black stallion that wore no tack, but looked back at the noble and gave an equine nod.

"Hey what the...?" Bazz-B began.

Shock flooded his body as he watched both his and Byakuya's lose their color and become nearly invisible.

"This is my cousin's power," Byakuya explained, "which he shares with his familiar, Arashi, that stallion. It will enable us to reach him and to escape without being seen. Stay out of direct light and try not to get hit. Getting hit once will shatter the form and you will be exposed. If your waterform gets hit twice quickly, you will take damage as the form breaks. Come now!"

Bazz-B started to respond, but broke off and gasped as he felt a wrenching sensation and suddenly found himself, still encased in the waterform, but standing in front of the horse, who looked back at him skeptically and huffed out a stern breath of warning.

"Stay close to me and do not do anything aggressive," Byakuya warned the quincy, "Arashi, like Tetsuya, my cousin, is perfectly devoted to me and will kill you if you attempt to harm us."

"I told you, I don't have a reason to kill you," Bazz-B reminded him, "Lead on."

He grimaced as Byakuya motioned for him to mount the black horse.

"He doesn't look like he likes me very much."

"You don't look like you like me very much," Byakuya said simply, "but we have common interests. Get on."

Scowling, Bazz-B climbed onto the horse's back, loosing a curse as Arashi shifted suddenly, nearly making him fall.

"Bastard!"

"That was just a reminder that he doesn't trust you. His trust must be earned."

"Smart horse," Bazz-B said, giving Arashi and pat on the shoulder as Byakuya climbed up behind him, "I kinda like you. You're a cocky little twit, but so am I."

"Bazz-B, if you will?" Byakuya prompted him.

"Okay," said the quincy, "this is how we get in."

XXXXXXXXXX

Uryu woke to a strange feeling of weakness and dizziness that indicated to him immediately that he was being drugged. His fears were confirmed as he turned his head slightly, groaning very softly at the feeling of nausea it brought on, and he spotted the apparatus at his bedside. He tried to lift his arm that appeared to be connected to an IV, but even the little movements he could make were sluggish, nothing that would end in him getting free.

_I have to find a way to stop the drug from getting into my vein, but how?_

But his foggy mind refused to focus, and soon he drifted off again. He slept deeply, only emerging when the amount of the drug was lessened enough to let him surface, some time later.

"Wh-what are you doing?" he mumbled, barely coherently, "Why are you drugging me? Wh-where's Ichigo?"

"Your friend is in the next room," said the old man Uryu remembered was called Terrell, "We are not going to hurt either of you. We are preparing you for the holy task you have been chosen to perform."

"What task is that?" Uryu managed, fighting the haze that still plagued his struggling mind, "What are you talking about?"

"You are confused from the medication," Terrell said sympathetically, "Don't try to understand. Just be calm and do as you are told. No harm will come to you or to Kurosaki Ichigo."

"But why are you doing this?" Uryu insisted, "Just...!"

"You must remain calm, Uryu," Terrell said reprovingly, "I want to be able to leave you conscious. It is better for you than being unconscious too much. As I said, we don't intend to harm you."

"Look," Uryu said, keeping his voice calm, "You obviously know that I betrayed his majesty, and you absolutely know that Ichigo is your enemy, so...why have we been chosen for this task? What is the task? Please, you have to tell me something..."

"I can tell you no more," Terrell said sternly, "Just rest and don't cause any trouble. Once you have done as we require, we will not impede you from leaving, if you wish."

 _That's a lie_ , Uryu reasoned, _I wonder if that means that someone else will hold us instead...or if it means that whatever they're going to do will kill Ichigo and me!_

_But...if we're going to escape, we have to get them to stop knocking us out and keeping us so weak. It means we have to cooperate a little to get a chance to escape. I just wonder if Ichigo's going to figure that out soon. He's so hard headed!_

Uryu flinched as a shaft of guilt passed through him.

_Yeah, he was so hard headed that he never ever gave up on me. As much as I want to hate him for that...I can't help loving him for it._

_Ichigo...we have to get out of here!_

XXXXXXXXXX

"Whoa! Whoa! Hold up a second!" Grimmjow called softly, catching Tetsuya as the pale faced shinigami faltered mid-stride and collapsed, "Tetsuya's not doing too well."

He laid Tetsuya on his back and leaned over him, infusing him gently with reiatsu as the other gathered around.

"It's not his fault," Grimmjow panted, "The bastards were torturing him when me and the others crashed down here. He told me that his jailer was killed and he managed to escape, but we've been constantly running and we weren't able to fix him up properly."

"Looks like we'll have to now," Renji said, adding his power to Grimmjow's.

"I will keep watch," Tier offered, moving away from the others, "Try to hurry. We need to get him on his feet. We are in constant danger of being discovered."

She paused and glanced back at them.

"Given the seriousness of our situation, we may want to consider concealing him somewhere and leaving him."

"What? What the hell?" Renji objected instantly, "There's no way we're leaving him on his own out here."

"He's got a point," Grimmjow added, bringing a surprised look to Renji's face.

"Huh? Why would you...?"

Grimmjow shrugged.

"He saved my life, I owe him," the Sexta Espada said flippantly.

"As you wish," Tier said calmly, "Just be aware that sometimes sacrifices are necessary."

Renji shook his head and huffed out a disturbed breath as the lady hollow disappeared around the corner.

"What's with her?" he asked, scowling.

"Eh, don't take it personally. It doesn't mean she doesn't like your friend here. She'd say the same if it was me or even her."

"Man, that's a little twisted," the redhead complained, his eyes following the dim hallway in one direction, then the other, watching as the two finished the infusion. Renji shook Tetsuya gently and smiled down at him as his eyelids fluttered, then his blue eyes opened and looked up at them.

"What happened?" he asked, blinking, "S-sorry, I didn't mean to endanger us with my weakness. Maybe...maybe I should..."

"Don't even think that," Renji said sternly, "I'm not abandoning a friend in enemy territory."

"But we have to stop the ones who are going to try to revive the quincy king! That is far more important. If he is revived, we are all going to die! You know that!"

"Hey, no one here's dying, so shut up about it!" Grimmjow snapped, "We're going to stop whatever plan they have to revive the king, but we'll do it together."

"Yeah, that sounds like a hollow," Renji teased.

"Shut up, or you're going to be left behind, asshole!" Grimmjow grumbled.

"I think we need to move on," Tetsuya said, holding onto Grimmjow's arm as he and Renji helped him to his feet, "The quincies are aware we are here. They aren't going to stop searching for us. And we must stop them before they complete their plans."

"But we don't want to get stupid and die," Grimmjow added, "so we're going to go find Harribel and think this through some more."

"Man," Renji said, falling in behind the blue haired hollow, who had wrapped an arm around Tetsuya and was helping him walk, "you're sure different than you were before, Grimmjow."

"Eh, what do you know, wiseass," the hollow sighed irascibly, "Come on. We have to keep moving."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Commander Haschwalth," a solemn, feminine voice said quietly, stirring the badly injured quincy out of the deep sleep he had been placed in for healing, "I was told that it was time to try to wake you, sir. Can you respond to me?"

"I...I hear you," Haschwalth answered in a low, shaky voice, "Amalia."

The woman's usually unsmiling lips relinquished their trademark frown.

"That is a relief," she sighed, cleaning his face gently with a damp washcloth, "Our healers weren't sure that you would wake."

"Of course I must wake," Haschwalth answered, forcing his body into a seated position, "There is little time. You are...aware of what happened to the king?"

"Yes, Commander," Amalia said, looking surprised at him having to ask, "That is why even though you haven't healed fully, I was told I must wake you. I have been told to inform you that Kurosaki Ichigo and Ishida Uryu have been collected and are being sedated while we prepare to revive the king. But we could not move forward until you were healed well enough to oversee the process. We need your ability to raise their power to a level that will bring about the necessary changes."

"I see," Haschwalth said, closing his eyes.

He paused as a flickering memory invaded his fevered mind.

He moved forward, pinning Uryu against the door and glaring into his widened eyes.

_"What is that look in your eyes?" he asked aggressively, "Do you regret your actions? It is too late for that. I think you accepted our invitation hoping to avenge your mother's death. But there is no longer any way for you to turn back. All who have been granted a piece of His majesty's soul have their power absorbed by him upon their deaths. Also, in the earlier battle, he had already scattered fragments of his soul across all of the Seireitei. This battle is a battle for his majesty. Not only we Sternritters, but also any Shinigamis who have come into contact with his majesty's soul will give up their own souls as offerings to him upon their deaths. No matter who lives or dies in this battle, it will only serve to bolster his majesty's strength and to extend his life. To him, battle is life itself. If he does not continue to absorb souls, eventually, he will return to the body he once had, unable to see, to hear, or even to move. his majesty will never cease to do battle. There is no escape for you or for me. Both you and I must live for his majesty and die for him."_

Haschwalth's weakened heart pounded as he considered those words again.

_There is no escape for you or for me..._

"There is no escape," he whispered softly, looking into Amalia's curious gaze, "We move forward."


End file.
